


Pretty buoy

by alienmancy



Category: Muse (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, ava-joe loves her uncle matt, dom is a marine biologist, matt teaches astrology, seriously just fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-08-14 07:29:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8003776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienmancy/pseuds/alienmancy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dom's a marine biologist working at a zoo and Matt just purchased a membership.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this was mainly inspired by dom's love for diving. just thought it'd be cute.

It was spring break. Matthew settled into his couch corner with a content grin. Finally he could just lay around eating and watching documentaries on the telly. Maybe play some piano. Shower? No thanks. Get dressed? Why bother. The two week stretch ahead of him was looking pretty good. Okay, yes true he did need to finish grading a few papers and finalize grades, but that wouldn't take too long. Nothing he couldn't complete tonight after dinner.

Switching the TV onto the discovery channel, Matt got comfy for two hours of --- Lithium by Nirvana was suddenly blaring through the room – his best friend Chris was calling him. Grumbling only a little, Matt got up and crossed the room to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bells!"

Uh-oh, the nickname. Chris wasn't calling just for a hello. He wanted something.

"Listen, I know today is your first day off and all, but would you possibly maybe watch Ava-Joe this afternoon? Alf's at a friends house and Frankie is with Kelly, but AJ keeps saying she misses her Uncle Matt."

Chris always knew Matt couldn't say no to that.

"Of course mate, no worries! Should I pick her up or will you be dropping her off?"

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

"What animal are you most excited to see, AJ?" Matt asked, smiling at the young girl holding his hand while they waited in line to buy tickets.

"The tiger obviously, Uncle Matt" she said, managing to sound exasperated despite only being seven years old.

Matt snorted internally, he enjoyed her intellect far more than he probably should.Chris was always telling him that he only encouraged her to be sassy.

"She is quite pretty, I remember her from last time," Matthew replied just as they reached the window.

After getting the tickets and making their way into the park, Matt studied both the map and the scheduled events.

"They're doing a talk with a diver in the big tank with the sharks and tunas in a few minutes, want to go see that?" Matt suggested, getting excited himself.

"Yes!" Ava-Joe replied gleefully, tugging Matt towards the direction of the aquarium.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Matt himself shuddered, eyeing the worker who was currently peacefully treading water amongst the sharks and fishes, decked out fully in scuba gear, but he admired the dedication.

Soon enough the talk started, the diver's microphone crackling to life as he joyously greeted the small crowd of children and parents in front of him, the younger ones hands pressed eagerly against the clear glass.

Matt couldn't help smiling as he listened to the man's obvious enthusiasm for his work. He spoke about every creature as if they were his beloved pet when they swam by. His slim legs were suddenly put to extra work as he moved a bit farther into the depths of the massive tank, and Matt watched on appreciatively.

"This here is Martha, and she just happens to be two years pregnant, look at that cute belly!"

Matthew's smile grew into a full on grin as Ava-Joe squealed delightedly next to him. And he swore the diver looked right at him through his goggles as he made his way back to the front of his audience.

As the diver then opened things up for questions, Matt couldn't help his eyes from wandering. He actually had to be joking. Was he really finding himself developing a crush on this man whose face he couldn't actually see? He could however, see the man clearly had nice arms and a cute stomach to go with those slender thighs, his inner voice reminded him. And he seemed nice and funny and passionate, yeah that too.

"I've got two questions. First, what's your name? And second, who is your favorite shark?"

Matt was shaken out of his appraisal of the diver by Ava-Joe's voice. He looked around her to find her in front of him, pressed right up against the glass in front of the cute employee in the tank, another worker holding a microphone up to her.

Matthew's stomach actually fluttered as the man gave a big – _and really fucking gorgeous and cute_ – smile to first AJ and then him before putting his mouth piece back on. Matt gave himself an internal eye roll for being so dramatic.

"You're right! I've been so rude, my name is Dominic. As for my favorite shark, well I shouldn’t keep favorites, I like them all! But if you can keep a secret, Harris, the tiger shark just to my right, is my favorite. We have a special bond me and him. I was the first one he trusted enough to give him the injection he needed when we rescued him from the wild."

_Dominic. Hmm._ Matt ran the name over and over again in his head. _Sounded good._

 

 

 

_***_

 

 

 

"Anything else you want to see before we go?" Matt asked AJ, smiling as she held up a finger, swallowing the last of her dipping dots.

"Can we go back to the aquarium?"

"Course, sweetie. In fact I think they're doing a sting ray feeding right now!"

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

"No way..."

"What, Uncle Matt?" Ava-Joe asked, tugging impatiently on his sleeve when she noticed he'd paused right inside the door, mouth open slightly at the slim young blonde man currently standing at the stingray touching pool.

He just smiled and shook his head, still looking slightly disbelieving as they walked up to the pool.

It was him. That was definitely Dominic. That nose and those arms couldn't be mistaken. Then he started speaking and Matt was sure.

And his face was even more gorgeous than Matt had prepared for. Dressed in a navy blue aquarium shirt, adorned with a name tag reading DOMINIC, and holding a bag of some sort of pinkish chunks of food, dispersing them in the water as he happily answered everyone's questions. Needless to say, Matthew was thoroughly shaken. He could feel a blush rising in his cheeks. _You're being ridiculous_ , he chided himself.

Ava-Joe on the other hand, had skipped right up to the pool and taken a spot directly across from Dominic, reading his name tag in realization.

"Dominic, it's you!" She cheered joyfully and Matthew braced himself, putting a hand on her shoulder.

There it was, that smile.

Dominic looked up in surprise, and a grin immediately took over his entire face, wide grey eyes crinkling, and fuck, was that a dimple?

"Hey!" He responded, waving to AJ and glancing up at Matt, holding eye contact long enough for Matt to flush a darker shade of pink.

"Nice to see you guys again," he continued, looking away to toss more food into the tank.

AJ - clearly enjoying the attention - eagerly asked him what he was feeding the stingrays. Matthew looked around, taking a deep breath, and realized they were one of the last few people still there.

"Today these guys are getting clams. Come over here, you can watch me feed the ones in the beach area."

Ava-Joe trailed delightfully after Dominic as he crossed to the other side of the room, where a small beach-like habitat was surrounded by trees and rocks. More stingrays swam here, and they even flopped out of water briefly sometimes, trying to get more of the pieces of clams, prompting Ava-Joe to giggle and pulling Matthew out of his accidental admiration of Dominic's behind in his tan skinny khaki's.

He couldn't help but smile as AJ started chattering away at Dominic about their day so far, who did nothing but respond enthusiastically.

"Uncle Matt, tell Dominic about the baby leopards!"

"Oh, uh" Matt began, stuttering awkwardly as Dominic's pretty eyes met his, an almost smirk on his lips. Damn, his bottom lip sure was plump.

"I'm sure Dominic already knows about them AJ," he said with an awkward laugh.

Finished feeding the stingrays, Dominic stepped back over the do-not-cross log and bent down more to AJ's level.

"As a matter of fact I do, I was even there the day they were born!"

"No way!"

He leaned in, almost secretively, and whispered, "I've even held them."

"You're the best, Dominic!"

"Tell you what, you can call me Dom."

"I like you, Dom."

"I like you too, Ava-Joe."

That's it, Matt was feeling too fond, way too fond of this, well, perfect specimen that worked at the zoo. Also, when did AJ even tell him her name? Had he been that caught up on Dominic's arse? _Well he did have a very nice one._

Ava-Joe and Dominic were busy smiling at each other like best pals, and then he straightened up, looking at Matt.

"So, Matt, what's your favorite animal here?"

Matthew bit his lip, willing his shyness away. This was an opportunity he couldn't let slip. To be clear, not telling Dominic his favorite animal, but just talking to him in general and maybe igniting a friendship or...something...was the opportunity he was refusing to fuck up.

"Oh, the otters are probably one of my favorites. They're so cute, cuddling and floating together." Matt's mouth snapped shut. Too much. Way too much.

"Oh I know! It's precious! I could tell you a thing or two about otters..."

And suddenly they were chatting, Matt couldn't believe it. AJ had skipped over to the fish tank, bored once the conversation had moved from animal facts and into adult stuff. Dominic, as it turned out, had a degree in marine biology, and therefore was a big part of all the rescue and release work the zoo did, as well as taking care of the marine creatures in the exhibits. He smiled widely when Matt sheepishly told him he was an astrology teacher.

"Really? Wow, that’s fantastic honestly. You'll have to show me constellations sometime, I'm severely lacking in knowledge."

"Uh, sure..." Matt trailed off, not positive if he was being serious or not.

"Ah, damn, I've got to be on my way." Dominic said, looking surprisingly disappointed as he glanced at his watch.

"I honestly had a lovely time talking to you. Uhm, I'm not sure how to say this, but would you maybe want to meet me here around noon for lunch tomorrow? Because you know, you're on break and all. Don’t want you to get bored...I could give you a tour, I've got a two hour break!"

Dominic was definitely rambling, but Matt was smiling the biggest he had all day.

"No, wouldn't want that..."

Was Dom possibly the one blushing now? Matt couldn't believe how this was going.

"I'd love to Dominic, honestly. I'll be here."

"Great!" He pulled his phone out of his pocket, opening up a new contact and handing it to Matt.

"Could you maybe give me your number, just so you know where to find me tomorrow?" He asked, sounding shy again. Matthew typed it in quickly, remembering that Dominic was supposed to be on his way and handed it back, giving Dom another smile.

"Perfect, can't wait for tomorrow!"

"Me either," Matthew said, still quite in shock.

"And you, Miss Ava-Joe," Dominic began, speaking louder and walking over to where AJ was watching fish swim by. She turned to him immediately, smiling.

"Don't be a stranger alright, come see me again soon. Make Uncle Matt here bring you back!"

"Oh I will, Dom!" They high-fived each other, and with one last wave to Matt, who was probably pink again, he was off and around the corner.

"You like him!"

"W-what?" Matt sputtered, looking down at the obviously pleased young girl.

"You do too!" He accused childishly, pointing a finger at her.

"Yes! Dom's great!" She said cheerfully, "But it's not the same thing, is it?"

And with that, she grabbed Matthew's hand and headed towards the exit, Matt being tugged along, overwhelmed with everything happening.

Like he said, too intelligent.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

"Uncle Matt has a date!" AJ cheered happily as her dad opened the door and welcomed them in.

"Uh, what's that now?" Chris said confusedly, looking at Matthew for an explanation.

"AJ!" He said embarrassedly. "I didn't know you heard that..."

"His name is Dom and he's great Daddy! Very handsome too, I approve."

"Uhm, good? I'm so lost," Chris replied, scooping his giggling daughter up.

Matt just buried his face in his hands.


	2. Chapter 2

"So let me get this straight," Chris started, setting down his soda so as not to spill it from his laughter. "You bought a membership just because you think a guy who works at the zoo is cute? How much are those?" 

"Sixty bucks," Matthew replied sheepishly. "But you don't understand Chris, he's really cute! And we're having lunch together tomorrow! The membership was my own decision, I get in for free now! Plus it helps fund conservation and education efforts and shit." Matt added the last part in a mutter, narrowing his eyes at Chris who continued to laugh, a hand on his stomach.  

Ava-Joe flitted back in, her mom not far behind her. "He really is cute Dad!" She added her input, patting Matt's arm in passing. 

"AJ does seem to be quite smitten Chris," Kelly added with a giggle, following her daughter to the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready soon boys!" She called as an afterthought.  

Chris was still chuckling to himself as Matt's phone started vibrating. He pulled it out to an unknown number across the screen and sprung to his feet immediately.  

"Oh my god, this might be him calling!" Matt said, staring at the screen. 

"Answer it, sweetheart!" Kelly yelled from the kitchen. 

Ava-Joe came darting back in. "Let me talk to him!"  

Chris snorted at this, apparently feeling no sympathy for Matthew _whatsoever_.   

"Let Uncle Matt answer first AJ!" Her mom said.  

"Better answer it soon Matt it'll stop ringing," Chris reminded him. 

"Right!" Matt dove into a nearby room, pressing the talk button and holding it up to his ear. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey Matt! It's Dom, from the uh, zoo. You okay? You sound like you're breathing heavily." 

"Ah yes," Matt said, embarrassed, "I was just uh, running?" 

"Okay... well I just wanted to, you know, tell you that you can meet me at the entrance to the zoo tomorrow at noon? I'll come out and get you, you don't have to pay." 

"Oh," Matthew said, thinking about the membership he'd purchased earlier.  

"If you still want to, of course. If not I totally under-" 

"No, no! I do, definitely. That sounds perfect. I'll be there." 

"Brilliant, and is eating at the zoo okay with you, there's the pavilion and stuff." 

"Of course, oh uh..." Matt said, looking at AJ who'd just burst into the room, holding her hand out. 

"There's someone who'd like to talk to you..." Matthew gave Ava-Joe the phone before Dom had a chance to reply.  

"Hi Dom!" She crowed excitedly, skipping back out to the living room where her mom and dad were sitting, giving Matt apologetic looks.  

The three of them could only hear her side of the conversation of course, but it was telling enough. 

"I'm great! Uncle Matt's excited to see you too! Yeah, I will. He's so fun, yes! You have good taste." 

Matthew flushed furiously at this, pointing a finger at Chris and daring him with his eyes to start laughing again.  

"Okay. I miss you already! Here I'll give the phone back to him. Bye Dom!" 

She handed it back to Matt, wrapping her arms around his middle. "I said only good things about you Uncle Matt." 

He smiled at that, putting his free arm around her. "I heard, sweetie." 

Putting the phone back up to his ear, he said "Hey," awkwardly, not sure what to say after that. 

"Hey," Dom replied, giggling adorably. "She's so cute. Anyway, uhm, I'll let you go now. But see you tomorrow yeah?"  

"Yeah, see you tomorrow!" 

"Awesome, bye Matt." 

"Bye Dom."  

Matt threw the phone onto the couch, trying not to smile and failing.  

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Later that evening found Matthew curled up under a blanket, a glass of wine in hand, and a documentary on black holes playing on the telly. He nestled further into the couch cushion, sighing happily.  

He'd finished grading and finalizing everything for this quarter after dinner at Chris and Kelly's; he was now well and truly free for spring break. And tomorrow he had a lunch date with the prettiest man he'd ever seen. Well, it was never specified as a date, but that's how Matt was choosing to look at it. He'd curse himself for the rest of his life if he didn't plant at lease one kiss on those cute cheeks.  

Out of habit, he checked his phone, and was surprised to receive a text just as he did.  

 ** _From: Dominic <3_** 

(Okay yes maybe he did put his name in his phone like that, and had maybe just maybe set his ringtone to Keep Fishin' by Weezer.)  

 ** _i'm_** ** _watching a doc on black holes rn, made me think of you! :)_**  

Matthew straight out grinned at that, quickly replying that he happened to be watching it too.  

They exchanged texts late into the rest of the evening, Dom asking questions relevant to what they were watching, and Matt replying excitedly. Most people got bored with his space chatter to be honest. Matthew wasn't positive whether Dom was genuinely interested or not, but he sure was dedicated enough to make it seem like he was.  

 ** _i_** ** _was serious about that constellation lesson, too. t_** ** _here's a meteor shower coming up this friday night right?_**  

Matt bit his lip at that. Was he actually getting at what he thought he was?  

 _yeah!_ _it should be starting around 8_  

Not knowing quite how to respond, Matt just left it at that. 

 ** _cool! well we can talk more about it tomorrow :). i_** ** _should be getting to bed. g_** ** _oodnight, see you soon!_**  

Matthew flushed at that, because he was actually ridiculous. How was he going to survive tomorrow?

 

 

 

 ***

 

 

 

By 11:45 Matthew was already in the parking lot at the zoo.  Sitting in his car.  Drumming his fingers against the wheel and casting nervous glances over to where the staircase began down to the front gate.  

It had been a long time since he'd done anything like this. He hadn't in fact, ever, really done anything like this. The few times he'd been in relationships had mainly been in university, and all of those had been guys he was friends with first. Those had all kind of flopped after a short amount of time. Then he'd started working as a teacher's assistant while simultaneously getting his master's degree and got so busy he didn't make any effort at all towards dating. He had met Chris though, who didn't actually work there, as it had turned out; he was a soccer coach. He managed a music shop in town but co-coached the team during the fall season. Matthew had run into him in the teachers lounge and they'd got to chatting.  

Since then, Chris, Kelly, and the kids had basically become Matt's family. If he was ever out of his apartment he was at their house, or downtown at Chris's shop playing the guitars. After he locked up Chris would often get on the bass or the drums and the two would jam for a bit. They kept joking about needing to get a drummer so they could really have at it. 

But Matt was stalling, reminiscing about all this. He looked at the car clock again – 11:55. He mine as well walk down there now.  

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

"Matt!" Dom called, waving happily at Matthew, that giant smile lighting up his face. 

Matthew smiled and waved back, walking quickly over to him and steeling himself. He had a habit of being, well, not particularly sociable (to put it lightly). He tended to be quiet and reserved, especially around people like Dom, who was talkative and upbeat. But today, he'd decided, today Matt was going to relax and be open. If not as a boyfriend, he definitely at least wanted Dominic as a friend. Not to mention AJ would be wanting to see him again so he could hardly stuff this up. 

"Hey, how are you?" Matt asked, feeling proud of himself. Surprised, actually, that he'd managed to spit something out once he'd gotten a good look at Dominic today. As it was significantly more chilly this morning than yesterday, he was wearing a navy blue crewneck pullover with the small zoo logo in white stitching on the left side of his chest.  Matt noted this change of uniform with both pleasure and disappointment. Pleasure because Dom looked soft and cute as fuck in that thing, and disappointment because he couldn't see those arms. 

"I'm good, I'm good. Wow! I love your jacket!" 

Matthew looked down at his coat with a shy smile -- it was his NASA bomber jacket. His favorite. It had the cutest NASA patch, the logo with little planets and stars stitched around it.  

"Thanks! Here, check out the back." 

Matt turned around so Dominic could see the big letters spelling NASA in red just below his shoulder blades.  

"That's actually awesome, wow." 

Matthew spun back around, his mouth curving happily when he caught Dom trying to disguise the fact his gaze had been lingering on Matt's arse. This was already going pretty good. 

Clearing his throat, Dom met Matt's eyes. "Ready to go in?" He asked. "Definitely."  

As Dominic lead him through the "Employees Only" entrance, he was already jokingly quizzing Matt, telling him he wanted to get to know him better as soon as possible (something that made Matt blush).  

"Favorite book?" 

"1984." 

"Okay that," Dominic started, turning his head to look at Matthew. "That fits you so well. I like that. Favorite color?" 

"Uhm, red." 

"Favorite planet?" Dom asked with a grin, stopping Matt in his tracks. 

"Woah now, I can't just, I can't pick! They're all so unique! Jupiter and its storms... you know its got at least 67 moons, at least! And Neptune is so cold and blue and beautiful. You know it has had wind speeds as high as 2,100 kilometers per hour. Imagine that!"  

By this point Dom was just grinning ear to ear, resulting in violently flushed cheeks from Matt.  

"Ah Matt," Dom said, resting a hand on Matt's upper arm, "I like you." 

"I like you too," Matthew sqeaked out, looking up at Dom through his lashes.  

"So is this a date then?" Dominic asked brightly, his hand still on Matt's arm.  

"I'd like that." 

"Great!" Dom cheered, putting his arm loosely around Matt's shoulders, who, he observed, was the perfect height for doing so.  

"Though this can be more of a pre-date, if you will," Dom continued seriously, "because I want to pull out all the stops for you. Take you out, wine and dine you, all that." 

"Honestly, where did you come from Dom," Matt said with a giggle.  

"I could ask you the same thing, space man."  

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

"You know I've eaten here a few times, never tried that though." 

Dominic looked down at his Korean tacos with a smile and a shrug. "I kind of have a wide palate. I love to eat and to cook."   

Matthew eyed him appreciatively. Dominic was too good to be true. Swallowing a bite of his chicken pesto panini, he sighed happily and asked Dom what else he was interested in besides biology and food.  

"Art...I paint a bit." 

As the weather had warmed up slightly on their walk over to the food pavilion, Dominic had taken off his crewneck to reveal a fitted, plain white t-shirt underneath and, if he was being honest, Matt was even more distracted now. He let his eyes travel up Dom's well formed arms, lingering on his smooth and tanned chest, picturing him standing in front of a canvas and painting.  

"Wow. That's pretty cool. What do you like to paint?" 

As Dominic started discussing different landscapes (the ocean in particular) and techniques that he'd worked on in the past, Matt got distracted again, eyeing the muscles of his upper arms where they bulged just slightly given the way he had his elbows propped up on the table.  

"Do you play the drums?" Matt blurted suddenly. He flushed instantly and furiously at his outburst, but Dominic just grinned. 

"Yes, actually I do." He said between giggles. "Why?" 

"I uh," stammered Matt. "My best mate Chris and I jam sometimes. I play guitar and well we don't have a drummer and I...your..." He trailed off awkwardly.  

Dom rested his chin on his fist and smiled amusedly at Matthew. "Are you asking me to join your band?"  

"Well... I mean...yes?" 

"Nah that sounds fun man. I'll definitely play with you guys sometime." 

Matthew smiled happily. "Great! Sorry for uhm...interrupting, it's just...your arms."  

Matt chided himself. _Why did I say that oh my god good one Matthew he didn't even look like he was bothered and now you've just made it worse for yourself and --_  

"Don't worry about it," Dominic said, giggling. "You're really cute Matt." He added, patting Matt's hand where it rested on the table.  

And so it went on. Matthew was pleasantly surprised by how at ease he was around Dom. The man had a knack for bringing out Matt's talkative side. He was just genuinely kind, relaxed, and engaging. Matt felt like they'd known each other a lot longer than just one day. They were already constantly teasing each other and comfortable with physical contact. But at the same time Dom would be incredibly focused on what he was saying when they weren't joking around, listening closely and asking genuine questions. Matt liked him. He liked him a lot. He was already so attached to the way Dominic spoke and the faces he made, how animated he was when telling a story.  

"Here, want to try a bit?" Dom asked, pulling Matt out of his trance by holding the end of a taco he hadn't bitten off of yet towards Matt. 

"Sure, what is it exactly?" 

"Bulgogi beef and kimchi, bit of Sriracha and sour cream on the top. You'll like it, trust me." 

Matt leaned closer to take a bite of the end, trying to ignore how Dom's eyes were trained on his face. Sitting back and chewing, Matthew was shocked by how good it actually was, bold flavors exploding all over his tongue.  

"Fuck! That is good."  

"Yeah?" Dom smiled, "I'll have to make kimchi bokkeumbap for you some time. It's this really good fried rice with kimchi and gochujang. I usually put a fried egg on top. I think you'd like it." 

"Oh my god, Dom...that'd be brilliant. I, regrettably, can only cook various types of pastas. It's a good thing I like pasta so much." 

Dominic giggled so adorably at this that Matt firmly decided from now on his mission in life was to make Dom laugh as much as possible.  

"Bet it's good though! I love a nice pasta paired with the perfect wine." 

Matthew gasped. This man was actually after his own fucking heart! 

"I think I just popped a semi," Matthew choked out.  

Dom stopped giggling, staring at Matt wide eyed for a few seconds, before tossing his head back and giving a full belly laugh. This easily triggered Matt's own laughter, not even feeling embarrassed about what he said or by the amount of people now looking at them.  

Both still letting out an occasional chuckle, they finished up their food, sharing the rest of Matt's waffle fries, and stood to throw their trash in the bin.  

"So what do you want to see first? I know you were here yesterday but I'm totally just going to bombard you with facts about everything." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay,,,yes it did take me 2 months to update. i cant say the next one will be quicker, but it probably will be and i'll at least try. i went to the zoo a few days ago so im feeling inspired again.


	3. Chapter 3

"Dominic!"

"Oh no..." Dom muttered, shifting forwards almost as if he was shielding Matt with his body. "What are-" Matthew started saying, but was cut off by a brown haired man running over to them enthusiastically, a camera in his hands.

"You must be Matt!" He said with a big grin, holding his hand out. Matthew shook it gently, raising an eyebrow at Dom. "Tom," Dominic hissed, "What are you doing?"

"Uh, my job," he replied, unfazed, holding his camera up. "Sheesh Dom you're going to make Matt think you don't like me." Tom turned to Matt with another smile."Since Dom here is being rude, hello, I'm Tom. Dom's best friend. He was talking about you nonstop yesterday after the whole stingray thing. _Tom you won't believe how cute this guy is! Tom, Tom, he's coming here tomorrow, what should I wear? Oh wait I still have to wear my uniform. Tom --_ "

"Okay! That's enough, Jesus Thomas." A flustered Dominic was avoiding Matt's gaze, but Matthew found him cuter than ever.

"Well, nice to meet you Tom." Matt said, grinning. Everything about and related to Dom just made him smile. "You a photographer then?"

As Tom started chatting with Matthew about his photography work for the zoo, Dominic slipped away. And into the backroom of the exhibit for the clouded snow leopards they were currently at, to be more specific. Matt only turned from Tom when someone crowed Dom's name. However, Dom and whoever had said his name were no where to be found. "Ah, cheeky shit. He's going to try to impress you." Tom muttered to Matt.

Suddenly Dom was back. Behind the fencing. In the exhibit. With a clouded snow leopard cub perched in his arms. Matthew actually melted into the floor. It was official. He had fallen in love.

There were two other cubs as well, one running around at their feet and the other in another staff members' arms. But Matt barely noticed this. He was too focused on Dom. Dom who was now wearing a cute little safari vest and had a tiny, fluffy creature in his arms. If his jaw had dropped a little he didn’t have the strength to shut it. The other worker was talking, answering questions as his cub jumped out of his arms and onto one of the thick branches. Dom wasn't speaking, he was just playing with the cubs, smiling at Matt and making Matt's heart swell. He held his arms out to the smallest one, which Matthew figured was the female (enough of the other worker's speech had leaked in for him to hear that there was two boys and one girl), and she focused on him, leaping quite the distance from a branch down into his waiting arms. He caught her easily, cradling her and giving her praise, before she jumped down again to continue playing with her brothers.

Matt realized he was smiling fondly, probably the most fond he'd ever smiled. As he watched the cubs wrestle with each other, nipping and playing in the same manner as puppies, a thought flew into Matt's head that wow he wouldn’t mind having a playful wrestling match with Dom. He raked his eyes over the man in question, picturing him pinned underneath Matt's body, rosy cheeked and gasping, shirt hiked up as he tried to escape Matt's ruthless tickling. _Yeah_ , Matthew thought. _I wouldn't mind that at all_.

Dominic met Matthew's intense gaze so suddenly that Matt didn’t even have time to look embarrassed. Dom just smiled, and with a quick word to the other worker, who nodded, he was gone and then back by Matt's side. Oh and Tom. Tom was still there too. And smirking pretty heavily.

"I've got a place I need to be unfortunately, but you kiddos enjoy your day. Matt, so lovely to meet you, I'm sure I'll see you again soon. And come find me before you leave, I want to get a picture of you two together. So Dom can hang it above his bed." He added the last part hastily, waving at Matt and quickly moving away from Dom who was trying to wack him. "Just text me Dom!" He called, around the corner and out the door in a flash.

"So that's my friend Tom..." Dom said, cheeks tinged a bit pink.

"I liked him," Matt replied with a smile, feeling bold enough to loop his arm through Dom's. Dom clung happily back.

"So do you... you can interact with all the animals? Not just marine?" Matt asked as they made their way out and back along the path, walking into another section of the zoo.

"I choose to, yeah," Dom said, "I like getting to know all of them. I'm only an expert in working with marine creatures of course, but pretty much all the workers are friends and teach each other. The cubs are sweet. I wouldn't necessarily go up to our lions with as much confidence, but yeah. I know them all. It's a good time."

Matthew paused to gaze at Dom's profile. He really was incredibly attractive. "I admire you a lot," Matt said softly, looking back down at his shoes.

"Hey, sappy," Dom giggled, nudging Matt's side. "I admire you too." Then Dom's hand was moving down to link with Matt's. "You don't mind, do you?" He asked. Matt shook his head, wide eyed, as Dom interlaced their fingers, smiling at him.

"Now c'mon, I want to show you a little something with the arctic wolves," Dom said excitedly, tugging Matt's hand and speeding up their pace.

 

 

***

 

 

That ' _little something_ ' with the wolves turned out to be quite the spectacle.

At first Matthew had been confused when Dom let go of his hand and went right up to the fence, making direct eye contact with the four arctic wolves who had been laying around on the grass ignoring the visitors.

But then Dom had called "hey boys!" And all of the wolves instantly got to their feet. Matthew was a little nervous at this point, but Dom clearly was having a laugh. He started jogging to one end of the fence, and Matt was slightly shocked to see that the wolves followed him eagerly. He turned to run back towards Matt, grinning, and they ran side by side (on opposite sides of the fencing of course). It was adorable though. Then he was jogging back and forth with the wolves, other guests to the zoo clapping and laughing. Matthew admitted himself impressed and more infatuated than ever. _Dom was really pulling out all his cards, damn_. Realizing he was in fact a zoo worker, a few people went up to Dom to ask him questions, and he chatted quickly with them, reaching out to grab Matt's arm and pull him to his side.

"But I'm actually on break right now, so I should be heading out. Glen should be here in," he looked down at his watch, "5 minutes to talk more and answer questions."

For only having about an hour until Dom needed to get back to work, they got quite a lot done. After the foxes, Dom grabbed Matt's hand again and pulled him towards the hippos. As Dom was happily telling him their names (Zola and Zawadi) Matt noticed that there were metal statues depicting hippos to the left. They were clearly for children to play on, but what the hell, Matt was feeling uninhibited and adventurous. "Dom," he called eagerly, walking over to the large metallic figures, "I think you should sit on this and let me take your picture."

"Oh is that so?" Dominic waltzed up to one of the hippos, easily tossing a leg over it and mounting himself on its back. He turned to Matt. "Take a bunch. Let me do my model routine."

This left Matthew a giggling mess, snapping images continuously while Dom varied between pouting saucily and grinning, flicking his hair, leaning back on the hippo and arching his hips up, truly doing his best to imitate a number of poses. Matt honestly couldn't decide whether he looked silly or sexy.

"Alright, your turn," the blonde announced as he slid back down onto the ground, taking out his own phone. Matthew stuttered, but was thankfully saved by an old lady with kind eyes slowly making her way around the corner.

"Oh!" She exclaimed happily. "Would you like me to take a nice photo of you two?" She asked kindly, eyeing Dom with his camera at the ready, pointed towards Matt.

"That would be lovely, thank you!" Matt said before Dom could respond, sending her a smile and patting Dominic's shoulder.

Dom begrudgingly passed her his phone, muttering about the unfairness of the situation before quickly realizing it would be nice to have a photo of him and Matt together. He quickly threw an arm around Matt's slight shoulders, tugging him right against his body. Matt just blushed and wrapped an arm around Dom's waist, giving a genuine smile to the camera.

"Aw, now that's lovely," the little old woman said, handing Dom back his phone, who thanked her graciously.

"I must be on my way to get myself an ice cream cone, but you boys have a nice day!" And with that she was on her way past them to the little cart selling frozen treats.

Matthew actually teared up a little at how beautiful the jaguar was. And yes maybe he did just see her yesterday but that was beside the point. They went into the tropical rainforest simulator where it was humid and dim, and Matt looked on with joy as Dominic began to get slightly sweaty, his hair curling adorably around his ears. He asked Matt if he wanted to Dom to lift him up when he saw him standing on his tippytoes, attempting to get a better look at the lemurs up in a tree. Matthew spun towards him at this, trying his best to look indignant. "As if you're so tall!" Dominic just laughed, gently pushing Matt to stand in front of him. He honestly wasn't that much taller, but he felt Dom's warmth behind him and could tell that if he leaned back into Dom's chest, he could rest his chin on Matt's head. His heart beat a little faster at the prospect. Then Dom took pictures of Matt in front of the sloth bears because he couldn't help but coo at how precious they were. All three were nestled into comfy spots, either sleeping or lazying about. He just want to cuddle one. And maybe it was his imagination but he swore Dominic's eyes sparkled every time Matt expressed excitement over the animals.Which was most of the time. Maybe Dom's eyes were just ethereally beautiful.

Dominic held his hand again, managing to casually slip into his grip when Matt was gazing up at the giraffe in wonder. He must have been spacing out a bit, but the way Dom's fingers laced with his own longer ones felt nothing short of perfect. He quickly surmised that Dominic just liked to be physical. It was his style of bonding and being affectionate. Not something Matt was necessarily used to, but it was definitely something he could become happily familiar with. Though he felt a little shock of surprise every time Dom brushed their shoulders together or reached up to push a strand of hair out of Matt's eyes, the new warmth that blossomed in his stomach and worked its way up to his ears was more powerful. Dom naturally leaned into his side if he was laughing at one of Matt's jokes, and squeezed his hand to show he was listening. A little part of Matt was concerned by the realization that if this were to end right now, he'd miss Dominic a lot. His face, his voice, the easy way they seemed to fall into banter. It wasn't a frequent thing for him to get on with someone so well. And he'd never experienced anything that felt as right as this, period.

Just as a crease was starting to form between Matt's eyebrows Dominic let out a gleeful shout, successfully pulling him away from any negative thoughts to once again become fully focused on the sunshine next to him. Said sunshine was gesturing wildly at the exhibit in front of them, talking at top speed. And as someone who tended to generate rapid speech patterns, Matt was rather impressed.

"Woah, slow down hon, didn't catch all that." Matt said, the pet name falling off his tongue so easily he almost didn’t even notice. But of course he did notice. And he stiffened, waiting to see if Dom had.

Dominic wavered for a second, making Matt break into a sweat, but then he seemed to decide to not react, though an odd smile quirked at the edge of his lips. "Kangaroo had babies recently.These are the joeys," Dom stated much more calmly. Matthew eagerly stepped closer, looking through the glass at the soft, tan, and tiny creatures. Three of them were dosing off but one was awake and appeared to look right at Matt. He sucked in a breath. Those big eyes just kept staring at him, holding him there unyielding.

Dominic giggled. "I think he likes you... that makes two of us."

"Mmm," Matt responded, still caught off guard by the gentle face of the little marsupial. "Wait what?"

A chuckle, then "Come on, you, let's keep moving."

Every exhibit they looked at had Dom bouncing around, telling Matt all about the animals, how they'd been rescued, and the hopes for returning them to the wild. Matt honestly had no idea how Dom could hold all of that information so readily in his head but it was cute in a way Matt couldn't even fully process. They only had time for two different sections after leaving the wolves since the park was pretty big. There had to be over 1,000 animals at least, and Matt was sure Dom would've told him about every single one if they'd had the time.

They stopped briefly for drinks, Dominic a peppermint mocha frappe (" _Isn't that a little Christmassy? It's April, Dom_." " _Oi, hush you. They make it don't they? And anyway, I love Christmas_.) and Matt a peach tea (" _Iced tea huh, isn't that a little...summery?_ " " _Oh my God... that was actually the worst comeback I've ever heard_." " _Okay you know what, fuck you Matt_."), before heading to the aquarium. Dom only had a little bit of time left before he needed to feed the penguins, so they figured it'd be best to head over now.

Within the aquarium, they slowly made their way down along the massive tanks. Dominic and Matt chatted more quietly in here. Matthew could see that although Dom knew an awful lot about animals, this was truly his domain. He spoke gently and passionately about anything and everything behind that glass. Matthew encouraged him happily, enjoying how intense Dom looked as he talked. In fact, it was turning Matt on a bit to see him so in his element. They paused when they reached the same spot Dom had been giving his presentation in the tank yesterday. The spot where Matt had first seen him.

"I thought you were cute you know, when I first saw you. But of course you were with AJ and she could've been your child and I didn't want to make any assumptions. But I could barely take my eyes off you." Dominic admitted softly, stroking Matt's hand with his thumb. So completely filled with warm fuzziness, Matthew couldn't even respond for a minute.

"Me too. I mean, I couldn't really see your face that well, but I mean...you _were_ wearing a wetsuit so..." Dominic let out a chuckle at this, motioning for Matt to continue. "But your smile, that's really what did it for me. Beautiful." Matt added the last bit as Dom smiled automatically in response. He couldn't even believe he was being this candid, but the way Dominic looked the most shy yet, running a hand through his hair and breathing in before meeting Matt's gaze, made him want to always do so.

They remained silent for a few moments, watching the fish swim by. Two women chatting next to them eventually drifted into their consciousness. And Matt flat out grinned, trying not to cackle, as Dom visibly went rigid at one of the ladies' statements: "Watching all these tuna fish is making me want a tuna sandwich."

Matthew pulled Dom away before he could respond, getting far enough from them to laugh openly. "You're so damn cute," Matt said, wiping a tear from his eye. Dominic just fake glowered at him. Then his phone buzzed, an alarm to tell him he was out of time.

"Do you uhm..." He started, and Matt looked at him curiously. "Do you want to come with me to feed the penguins? It'll only take a few minutes and then I should have plenty of time to walk you to your car before my meeting. If you want."

"Of course I want, silly Dom. Lead me to those penguins."

 

 

***

 

 

This time Dom was even wearing wellie boots, tossing bits of fish to the penguins and laughing at them, talking to them quietly. Matthew wasn't sure what he was saying, but it made him grin. He wasn't giving a presentation or taking questions, just giving them their meal, so it didn't take more than ten minutes. But Matt gladly watched Matt parade around in those little waterproof boots, chatting happily with the aquatic birds.

He quickly changed back into his normal outfit and met Matt, taking his hand again as they walked to the exit. They passed another worker that Dom clearly knew because she smiled widely, greeting him briefly and glancing over Matt. "Nice," she said, giving Dom a wink and a thumbs up, scurrying away right after.

Dom smirked. "That's Em. We work together a lot. I might've mentioned you to her right after I saw you by the tank."

Matt just laughed, holding Dom's hand tighter.

They arrived at Matthew's car all too quickly but he knew the time had come. He had to spit it out.

"So Dom...listen...I had a really, really good time today. And so that meteor shower on Friday yeah? I have a telescope at my apartment of course, and there's actually a documentary at 6 about sound pollution in the ocean that I thought we could watch...and I thought I'd make pasta maybe? I mean I'm not that great a cook but I can probably manage. And today was so nice. I want to do something for you."

He said all this rapidly and softly, rambling and looking at his shoes. But Dom tilted his head up, putting a finger under his chin. The corners of his lips were turned up sweetly and he looked so gentle and kind Matt wanted to cry a bit.

"I would love that so much Matt. Just tell me what time you want me and I'll be there."

 

 

***

 

 

Matt drove home with a smile on his face, hand pressed to the spot on his cheekbone where Dom had given him a tender and lingering kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shout out to a worker at the zoo who i saw doing the same thing Dom does with the wolves. thanks for that sweet inspo.


End file.
